Patrick Reed believes the back nine will prove crucial during The 145th Open after going round in 66 in his opening round. Anthony Averett Jersey . The American took the clubhouse lead on five under after a round that included five birdies, an eagle and just two bogeys. Watch The Open Watch the first round of The Open for free, no contract Its one of these golf courses where you feel like you have to go out and make a ton of birdies early, Reed told Sky Sports. But at the same time, if you get too aggressive then you can make a lot of big numbers so what I tried to was, I played pretty conservative through the first six or seven holes. Then it just happened that I holed out a wedge shot, hit a couple of good iron shots and rolled in a couple of puts. The key this week isnt so much the front as it is the back nine. The back nine here, if it plays into the wind, is brutal.Reed also spoke of how he feels that competing in last weeks Scottish Open has benefited him at Royal Troon. Justin Thomas started his round with four birdies on the bounce Its very important, he added. It allows you to get a little bit more comfortable because back home everything is carry and spin and over here it is more about keeping the ball down, fighting it but at the same time, you need to get comfortably hitting pitching wedges from 100 yards. I think that is the hardest thing for me - hitting something really soft yet really being able to control the trajectory, distance and direction. Justin Thomas finished on four under at Royal Troon in his first ever round at The Open Justin Thomas, meanwhile, began his round with four consecutive birdies on his debut at The Open and another gain on the last saw him finish -4.It definitely helps, thats for sure, he said of his superb start. The front nine was definitely scoreable, the wind is in a good direction and it wasnt too heavy so you had to get on those on the front nine.I put myself in good spots off the tee and gave myself a lot of chances and it was nice to make the turn like that.It was great [to end with a birdie] after I felt like I was grinding throughout the back nine just to salvage pars and bogeys and doubles even.I love links golf, I have been fortunate enough to play some events on it and you just have to be creative. You never know what youre going to get with the conditions and so I think in terms of a gameplan and how youre going to attack the course, it changes day to day.On a day like today, you can be a little bit more aggressive but that back nine is still really, really difficult and you just have be patient, get the ball on the fairway and try to minimise the mistakes. Also See: Sign in to watch The 145th Open LIVE! Latest leaderboard WATCH: Oosthuizens hole in one! Miles Boykin Jersey . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Chuck Clark Jersey . The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning and boosted Cincinnatis struggling offence by hitting a double and scoring as the Reds ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday night. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom-anthony-levine-sr-jersey-large-1973d.html . Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization.Dominic Cork says Virat Kohli has the potential to be as successful as Indian great Sachin Tendulkar in one-day cricket. Sky Sports pundit Cork made the bold statement after watching the 27-year-old Royal Challengers Bangalore captain set a new record for the most runs in an IPL season.Kohlis 2016 tally of 752 - boosted by three hundreds and five fifties in his 12 innings - surpasses the 733 amassed by Bangalore team-mate Chris Gayle in 2012 and Mike Hussey in 2013.Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs and 49 hundreds in his 463 ODIs, while Kohli has notched 7,212 runs and 25 tons in his 171 games to date. Tendulkar scored over 18,000 ODI runs Its a big statement to say someone could be as [successful as] Tendulkar but at the moment Kohli is making every bowler look easy to play against, said Cork. Eric Zeier Jersey. Who knows? In 10 years time we could be standing here and saying he is better than Sachin.Watch Kohli in action in the IPL, live on Sky Sports. Bangalores next game, against Kings XI Punjab, is live on Sky Sports 2 on Wednesday from 3pm. Also See: Fixtures/results Live cricket on Sky Get Sky Sports Cricket videos ' ' '